Work.

So.  What is "spirit-food" for us industrial/indigenous half-breeds?  What is a modern-day spirit offering?  I'd say that now, as ever, it is anything we truly value.  Our energy, our focus, the hours of our days.  Anything we respect so much that, as we pour it out on the finned, feathered and four-legged peoples' behalf, we kind of hate to see it go.  Maybe single-malt scotches from the literalists among us.  Prayers and mantras from the mystics.  Money, time, and trouble from the capitalists and activists.  Unflinching accuracy, no matter the political climate, from the scientists.  Stories from people from me.  The big blockade to change is lack of passion.  And the birth-house of passion is the heart.  A spirit-offering, then, is anything we can offer with a whole heart -- any song, dance, phone call, plea, letter, insight, gift, or prayer that helps determine the way we, and other humans, continue to create our world, rivers, hills, and forests.

It feels awkward, I know, to just stand up and do a "spirit thing."  But so does the Web of Life find our lethal industry and greed awkward.  Even a hokey offering expresses a dream, a hope a moment's love for another life-form.  If we don't get to work with the tools at hand, we may never get to work.

David James Duncan